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Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 6266
Location: Knoxville, TN, USA
Posted: Thu 27 May 2010, 18:08
Post subject:
Organization of Additional Software
First of all, I want to establish a procedure to deal with any perceived miscategorization. I do make mistakes, and you probably know your packages better than I do, so
if you feel that a thread has been miscategorized feel free to take one of the following actions:
You can PM me directly with a link to the thread, which section you feel it should have been put into, and why.
Alternately, you can post that same information to this thread.
And just so that it's clear -
I do expect people to start posting new threads to the proper categories now.
I won't bite anybody's head off for posting threads into this main area, especially if they don't know which category to use. But I certainly don't want anybody thinking they need to post here and let me sort it. I would much prefer the opposite!
Second, if you have any complaints about how I've categorized things in general, please state them here. The structure is still evolving. For example, I am beginning to suspect we need a category for software development related packages. Currently they are split between Documents, System, and Utilities, depending on what they do and which way my fan was blowing at the time.... But I don't want to have too many sections either.
Also, I am trying to decide what to do about the un-categorized area. Part of me wants to force self-categorization by putting all the unsorted things into a new subsection named "Unsorted" and then locking it. Then with the main area cleaned out, it could be reserved for only the more general overview type threads, like this one, so that people would have a place to ask questions and stuff. But software posts would not be allowed except in the categories.
I'm not sure whether that's a good idea though, so I want to leave that up for discussion for now. Might be better to just leave it be.
Oh, and if you have old threads from before April that I haven't sorted that you want sorted, use the same procedure for miscategorization. I probably won't ever get around to sorting out all of the posts, but I do intend to eventually do at least everything since the beginning of 2010.
Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. --Muad'Dib
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Joined: 26 Feb 2007
Posts: 3475
Location: The Blue Marble
Posted: Mon 31 May 2010, 20:58
Post subject:
Oops - posted mine and the saw your message. Sorry. Mine should go into security area.
Fatdog64 forum links:
Latest version
Contributed packages
ISO builder
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Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 6266
Location: Knoxville, TN, USA
Posted: Wed 23 Jun 2010, 23:30
Post subject:
So, I'm thinking we may need the following additional sections:
Software Development
And I have absolutely no idea what to do with stuff like
I have some of my own stuff that needs attention for now, but maybe next week or so if I wind up with a bunch of free time in between working I want to take care of setting up the "Unsorted" section and then starting on sorting the rest of the threads that originated in 2010. (I'm not going to worry about the older stuff - things that get bumped will get moved, but things that don't get bumped will stay unsorted unless I get a request to move them, with links to the threads.) I will partially lock "Unsorted" so that no new threads can be created there, but replies to existing threads can still be made, bumping them up to the top of the list and resulting in them eventually getting sorted.
As for this general area, I will be leaving it open for general comments and stuff that people have no idea how to sort. When things like Qbrew come up that I can't figure out either, I'll leave them here (I'll be moving such things from 2010 here too, not leaving them in "Unsorted"). Eventually enough of them will accumulate that I can find patterns and create/decide-on appropriate categories for them. So in the long run all software threads posted from 2010 and later would be sorted - "Unsorted" shouldn't grow and will only hold old stuff.
This isn't set in stone. I definitely won't start working on it until at least next Monday. So if you have issues with it please speak up. It's usually easier to fix mistakes before they happen...
Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. --Muad'Dib
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Official Dog Handler
Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 13653
Location: Arizona USA
Posted: Thu 24 Jun 2010, 01:21
Post subject:
Thanks for trying to bring some order to the Additional Software section, Pizzasgood.
Perhaps it would help people decide which is the correct category for their programs if each category name was followed by a short description or clarification. For instance the proposed new category of Educational: Programs intended to teach, or to help one learn or study a specific subject. (Just a guess.)
Some Educational programs might conceivably also qualify for the Software Development category, if they teach programming..
I'm not sure how to explain or describe the proposed category of Omnibus/Repository....
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Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 6266
Location: Knoxville, TN, USA
Posted: Thu 24 Jun 2010, 01:55
Post subject:
Actually, if you look the sections, they all have either examples of appropriate software or a description.
As for Omnibus/Repository, that would be for threads where people posted a bunch of software that all belongs to different categories, like
this one
, and for threads about package repositories that people have set up.
Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. --Muad'Dib
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Joined: 11 Oct 2009
Posts: 13981
Location: S.C. USA
Posted: Fri 25 Jun 2010, 01:52
Post subject:
How about calling
Other Software/package Repositories
Other locations of Puppy software or collections of software.
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Official Dog Handler
Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 13653
Location: Arizona USA
Posted: Fri 25 Jun 2010, 23:40
Post subject:
Pizzasgood wrote:
Actually, if you look the sections, they all have either examples of appropriate software or a description.
Well, so many people seem to post to a thread without reading even the first few posts of the thread that I thought it might help to put the description right in the thread title where they'd have to read it.
It's really discouraging. People are all the time asking for help in the How To section. I guess they read the first two words of the section title, "How To....," and figure they know all they need to know about it before posting.
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Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 6266
Location: Knoxville, TN, USA
Posted: Sat 26 Jun 2010, 02:26
Post subject:
Hmm, "omnibus" is a fun word, but I guess it makes sense to use a more obvious term, especially for non-native English speakers.
Other Software/package Repositories
is a little ambiguous - it could be accidentally read like this: "(Other Software) / (Package Repositories)" instead of "Other (Software/Package) Repositories".
Maybe something like
Package Collections / Repositories
I think "How To" is a little different - the easy misunderstanding is over a fairly important element. So maybe that section does warrant renaming to something along the lines of "How-To (solutions only, no questions)".
Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. --Muad'Dib
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Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 6266
Location: Knoxville, TN, USA
Posted: Fri 16 Jul 2010, 17:43
Post subject:
Ok, I've done the rearrangement needed to shift all the unsorted stuff into the "Unsorted" thread. I think I will rename that to "Uncategorized" though. And yes it probably needs a slightly better description.
I have been negligent lately on sorting things. I will fix this soon, and add those two new sections as well. But not today. The AC in the second story of our house - the part where I live - is broken. It's 97F up here. I've been up here working all day and I'm about to call it quits early for the week and flee downstairs where it's almost cold by comparison. Grab some ice cream and read a book or something.
Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. --Muad'Dib
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nancy reagan
Joined: 22 Jan 2009
Posts: 549
Posted: Sat 17 Jul 2010, 11:07
Post subject: Now we can;t see the new posts
First of: sorting additional software is a good thing in itself, but sometimes you can go too far.
Wondered already whether the INDEX covered almost the whole page and therefore could see new posts or replies.
Suggest to go back to yesterday's layout, so that new replies and topics are showed again..
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Joined: 11 Sep 2008
Posts: 326
Posted: Sat 17 Jul 2010, 16:28
Post subject: Pardon my ignorance
Pardon my ignorance.. but I do not understand the categories...and or a real need to for them.. let me explain a bit.... as a casual user who loves to play. been in this business many years... I read the forum daily..... I have never made heads or tails out of the indexes... I simply use the Search page and type in TODAY... usually that gets me the latest posts... OK.. might not be the best way to get all the news.. but it seems to work. In other words... it gets me what is active, what is most current in PUPPY land.
In the case where I need a specific type of post ... I also use the search either directly or with the aid of Google to find a post.
Just looked at the new categories... looks neat.. A few questions.... where do I find what PUPPY I might want to use? How do I get or find out what are the current puppies... and I might add there are a lot of official versions and new development versions are now called.... "Puppy Derivatives"..... sorry but for a new person seeing the index for the first time.... I would not have any idea where to go without spending a lot of time probing layer after layer.
How does bug reports work.. well that is not a good questions? What I am alluding to... is LUCI for instance has a Bug report section and entry under bugs.. yet as it is in active development.... most current bugs are in the development page? Fifty percent of the 214x posting is either bugs and fixes or misc information. Which of course brings us back to where do I find in the index a version for OLD hardware for instance....or cutting edge version information... such as Fatdog64 or software for a multiprocessor system.
Thanks for hearing me out.
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Joined: 04 May 2005
Posts: 6266
Location: Knoxville, TN, USA
Posted: Sat 17 Jul 2010, 17:28
Post subject:
@Minnesota: Well, this thread is more about the Additional Software section. Organizing it so that people can find software more easily. I felt we needed more organization than just one huge category because it quickly fills up with large numbers of posts. Such a structure is fine if you just want to see what the latest additions are. But if you're trying to see which spreadsheet programs are availible, or which games we have, etc. it isn't so great. As for Puppy development, I'm not really involved with it anymore and haven't been keeping up. I don't know where they're working and what-not. If they ask for different organization of those parts of the forum I would be glad to oblige, but not being a part of the flow of development myself, I can't do a good job organizing it myself.
@nancy reagan: Yes, the number of categories has been bugging me as well. Maybe we could consolidate them somewhat. Here's what I've got so far:
Eye Candy
Repositories / Software Collections
Unsorted Software
That's 11, vs. the 18 we have now (20 when I add the Educational and Repository sections). Business and Documents would be combined into "Office", Graphics would be merged into Multimedia, Internet would be merged into Network, Utilities into System, Filesystem into Desktop, and the Engineering and Virtualization would combine into Technical (which would also provide a home for software-development related packages). The Drivers section would become a subcategory of System, Eye Candy would become a subcategory of Desktop, and the Security category would become a subcategory of Technical.
Some of the things in Utilities would probably wind up in Technical or maybe some other places instead of System, when appropriate.
Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. --Muad'Dib
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Joined: 11 Oct 2009
Posts: 13981
Location: S.C. USA
Posted: Sun 18 Jul 2010, 04:15
Post subject:
Do not forget what started this. It was hard to find stuff. I think the way it is divided now is great. You start recombining stuff and you are going back to the way it was. The categories you have now are used everyplace that software programs are listed. They are well known and understood. If you add more categories, so what! If something does not seem to fit in any category that is listed, it has to go someplace.
I like being able to go to say internet category to find a web browser. What you are talking about I would have to go to
and I would need to know that the internet stuff would be under network.
You will never have 100% agreement, but input good or bad will make you think and do a better job.
From me, thanks for what you are doing!
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nancy reagan
Joined: 22 Jan 2009
Posts: 549
Posted: Sun 18 Jul 2010, 08:53
Post subject: But do not keep the latest posts away from us
You can categorize as much as you like, but do not keep the latest posts unsorted away from us. We can decide for ourselves how we value ut.
Was already wondering why there was so little new software but apprently it is kept away from us.
So you can do the one and still do the other: categorize as much as you want BUT leave the posts as it were, the best of both worlds.
Each individual considers each packages differently so might miss packages by looking in the wrong categories.
Let us decide for ourselves: using your index and or all the posts.
B. Some packages can be categorized under 5 categories.
Pburn: dvd authoring, burning etc, K Office: wordprocessor spreadsheet imaging etc.
Yes I like the sorting but miss the older as well !!!!
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nancy reagan
Joined: 22 Jan 2009
Posts: 549
Posted: Sun 18 Jul 2010, 09:12
Post subject: What if somebody asks advice reports results on a package et
Again keep on categorizing as much as you feel like it (Keep in mind YOUR CATEGORY IS NOT MINE OR HIS.)
but STOP THIS keeping away all the newer and older posts REFERRING TO NEWER AND OLDER SOFTWARE so nobody sees who is asking for help or giving advice or explanation etc.
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|___ House Training
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Pain is inevitable a part of life that could never be eluded nor omitted. Funny it may seems that often times pain supersede even happiness and love. People tend to be blinded or bedazzled by its negative denouements. Staggered by how powerful this four letter word turning an optimist become a pessimist. Yet, no one could ever make a stand and pretend to declare that they are either an optimist or pessimist because the truth on that matter is we are all both. Every now and then regardless of how hard we try to comprehend the reasons and lessons of pain; the mind and heart seems to repudiate. I would love to talk about all the best positive and blissful things but my heart is leading into something I always try to avoid. But I believed that to be able to let go and accept the circumstances that happened we need to acknowledged our pain, cry with it, learn from it and move forward.
Looking back it seems like there was no open door, closed and imprisoned by pain and anguish. Losing a father at two months without even leaving a single second of memory to remember is like grasping in the dark with a heavy load of questions. It doesn't end there losing two precious people who brought you up and gave everything they could was a devastation. In addition, to venture in the world and fathom the circumstances that had happened alone is both an achievement and misfortune. Feels great to understand reasons and comprehend those uncertainties making them as your foundation of strength that's an achievement. Sad misfortune to those who gave up and had lose hope for they wouldn't be able to experience the essence of its triumph.
Indeed in the world of confusions, conflicts, pain and uncertainties comes great power of valor that rekindles a broken heart to mend. At times when I stumble or fall their memories would be my ladder of courage and hope. It always reminds me that they have given everything for me to have a good life and even if they were gone its no reason for me to be stuck in doom. Yes, I make mistakes, fail, hurt people and gave up.
Then again I rise, ask for forgiveness and try again. No one said that we always need to be on top, to never entertain the taught of failure but I say fail, fall for you will rise better than before. ;)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
VIDEO DOWNLOAD - Face Off Volume 7 : Bob Backlund & Terry Funk
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It has taken the braintrust of RF VIDEO over a full decade to get Backlund to sit down for a shoot interview. We were told by everyone that he would never, under any circumstances, do a shoot style interview for anyone. Backlund is as old school as you can get and a true legend in the wrestling business. We just knew that if we could get into that brain of his we could unlock so many wonderful stories and get the answers to some long asked questions. Persistent as a Mississippi blood hound hot on the scent, we continued faithfully in our attempt to score the interview coup of 2009. Finally, we broke through
Our 15 years of unrelenting badgering, Bob Backlund agreed to sit down with us. However, there was one condition. Bob wanted to share the spotlight with a man he considered his mentor in the wrestling business. Enter the one and only Terry Funk. You could have picked our jaws off the floor as not only were we getting the exclusive first interview with Bob Backlund, but he would be walking down memory lane with the incomparable Terry Funk. And to put the cherry on top of the sundae, this would be the first time the two had seen each other since Backlund's days in Japan!
The interview/reunion starts off with a bang as we cover Bob's days working the Texas territory before moving up to New York to work with Vince Sr. The boys discuss the territory system and debate whether or not it could exist in today's environment. It was exhilarating being in the middle of a conversation with two of the smartest men in wrestling as they talk about the pros and cons of the WWF and NWA formulas.
We know our fans want to get into the Way Back Machine, and we had Backlund and Funk talk about all the big names of the past including Bruiser Brody, Dusty Rhodes, Eddy Graham and Florida, Verne Gagne, Sam Mushnick, Bruno Sammartino, John Studd BlackJack Mulligan, Andre the Giant, Don Muraco, Sgt Slaughter, George Steele, and Greg Valentine. That's just a sampler of the many superstars they reminisce about.
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text:
I didn't feel comfortable driving without a licence. Knowing my luck, I'd be pulled over when I least expect it.
I went to the Department of Transport office in Rosalie only to find out it would be closed until Friday! There was however a note down the bottom stating the office in Spring Hill was open.
My brother was leaving back to Sydney today, so on the way to the airport I was dropped off to renew another five year licence. For $71.05 it's a bit expensive considering I'm still living in Japan. Who knows how long I'll be there for?
So far it looks like it'll be living there a while yet. Maybe it's just a slow time of year, but I'm pretty bored being here. I can't remember it being this slow and quiet before.
I walked through the city after getting the licence. Like last time it felt strange. I've gotten so used to Tokyo now that it's here I feel awkward. Again, the sounds of English, and I mean AUSTRALIAN English, sounds foreign!
Right now my biggest decision is whether to chop off my locks or not. Now THAT is a tough choice to make.
Monday, 29 December 2008
Strange Days
I didn't feel comfortable driving without a licence. Knowing my luck, I'd be pulled over when I least expect it.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 7:51 pm 0 comments
Sunday, 28 December 2008
Sunday Driver
After a long sleep I finally woke up at 3pm. This is not so bad. Quite often I wake up in Tokyo at 2pm, so business as usual for me!
Although I haven't renewed my licence yet, I HAD to drive my car again. I got my chance today as the whole family went to Sizzler in Toowong for dinner. Luckily there weren't any cops around.
It was fantastic to get behind the wheel of my Mx-5. If there's one thing I really miss here it's my car and the freedom it gives me.
Sizzler's the McDonalds of restaurant dining, but I can't explain how happy I was to see this.
Yes, that's right. It's a steak. Thick, juicy and it was still cooking when it got to my table.
Japanese food is delicious for sure, but a man needs meat to grow big and strong!
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 10:58 pm 0 comments
Saturday, 27 December 2008
You Know Where You Are? I Forgot
Can you have too much of a good thing? Probably not.
For the second night in a row, I made it a mission to go once more to the Down Under for some more good times.
We arrived earlier this time around 7.30pm so it took a while for things to pick up.
Generally speaking it wasn't as good as last night, but it was good to catch up with some more friends.
There were some girls sitting in front of us, but they were quite lame to talk with.
Not much better were the Korean girls that didn't keep our interest for long.
I can't help to notice how quiet Brisbane is to Tokyo. Maybe a lot of people are on holidays elsewhere, but apart from this bar the rest of the city felt deserted.
To end the night we had a kebab. Ah, the good ol' days!
Friday, 26 December 2008
You Know Where You Are?
I have to make the most of my time here as much as possible.
Arriving before the weekend is always a big plus, so after having a bit of a sleep during the day I was looking forward to a night at my favourite little watering hole, the Down Under Bar!
Accompanied by my bros, we had a real good night with a great crowd.
It wasn't long before it was time for tequila.
A very nice surprise was to catch up with a good friend who I met in Tokyo. Good to see you again! Sweet.
Needless to say it was an excellent all-nighter for me. Good times with good people.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 10:26 pm 0 comments
Thursday, 25 December 2008
Jimmy's Magical Christmas Toy Run
I'm not good at packing.
I left it until the last day and sure enough I forgot my razor and a few other non-essential items. I arrived in plenty of time at the airport.
It's one heck of a long trip getting to Narita airport. Going through customs took no time at all.
The plane was meant to leave at 8.20pm, but it didn't leave for close to an hour later. I had a good seat on the plane with lots of legroom and a spare seat next to me, but I didn't get to sleep though.
Surprisingly, one of the other teachers was on the same plane. What are the chances of that?
Arriving at the Gold Coast airport I was welcomed by rain and a bit of humidity. It wasn't so bad, even though I was wearing two jackets and a jumper, so I wouldn't have to carry them along with my bag.
My toys made it safe to Australia, although I found it strange that my suitcase lock was missing. What's so suspicious about a suitcase full of UFO catcher toys?
I drove home in my dad's car. It feels fantastic to drive a car again.
Brisbane here I come!
Last Christmas I Gave You My Heart
The shops were busy yesterday. It's also the last time (for this year), I get to hear the strains of "Last Christmas". Don't people realize it's a BREAK UP song? Being in English probably not. Also I can do without Mariah's "All I Want For Christmas" too.
Coming home pretty drunk I couldn't wait to give my presents.
I got the gf a "ping pong Dash" t-shirt and a Suica penguin 3-in-1 adapter. She told me she liked the shirt everytime we went to that shop so I figured it'd make a good present. She pretty much likes Suica penguin anything, so the other one was a no-brainer too. She can use it with her laptop and charging her mp3 player. Cool huh?
I got some Japanese books that I can't read, some biscuits and a hair band. I guess I have to learn to read Japanese then, won't I?
Still haven't fully packed for Australia yet. Hopefully it won't take too long. Leaving tonight.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:42 am 0 comments
Wednesday, 24 December 2008
Tears On A Razor Blade
I've finally started to use the replacement Gillette blades that I bought back in March.
As you can see the one I've been using for a YEAR AND SEVEN MONTHS is looking a little worse for wear. That's right, since I arrived in Japan!
Even with shaving cream, it was really starting to feel like I was ripping my face apart. At least I know how far I can use these to (my) breaking point.
For some reason Gillette market the blue blades for the non-powered razor. It happens to be a little cheaper, but it fits and works just the same as the proper ones. So, don't pay extra for a colour co-ordinated orange. Blue looks fine.
I have to say I had a much more comfortable shave today.
Station beers was a little more in-house tonight. Considering it was Christmas Eve and the last drinks for 2008, we stayed indoors with a few more of the staff and other teachers.
See you next year guys. Cheers.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:27 pm 0 comments
Monday, 22 December 2008
Geek Like Me
In my final days I couldn't stop myself from checking out Nakano Broadway.
Going there every week is fairly pointless as most of the stuff stays the same, but it's been quite a few months, so in the limited time before work I jumped off the train to the land of hentai dolls and other retro toy junk.
It was quite satisfying. I first gazed upon the retro handhelds. Most of the same games were still there. Upstairs there was an assortment of Gundams and hentai dolls but no, I didn't buy anything today.
Tonight I did a preliminary packing of my suitcase. This involved mostly taking all my hentai dolls and Gundams (ha ha) out of their packaging, and putting the stuffed toys I have accumulated over this year. While it's not full as last year's suitcase, it's still more than I expected to carry (sigh).
Let this be a lesson to the catcher addict.
The good news is that so far with my trusty new electronic scales, the total weight so far is only 11kg, meaning I have the opportunity to stuff another 9kg of crap in there. Great!
Only 2 more sleeps to go.
Sunday, 21 December 2008
Tokyo Reality
It really conveys the feeling of living in Tokyo.
I kind of miss my video camera that I decided to bring back home last time. Recently I'd be toying with the idea of getting a HD camera that was smaller than the one I have, and being able to edit them on my mac. I read a lot about the AVCHD digital format used for the latest line of camcorders.
From what I read, it seems like you need some pretty high-end, powerful gear in order to edit videos which feels like a hassle.
An alternative to all this is the Nikon D90 DSLR which being a step up from the D80 also includes a movie mode! In essence I'd be able to do cinematic HD filming on a camera, and I'd finally be able to auto-focus with my fisheye as well as other older lenses my D40x can't focus with. Imagine, fisheye movies!
The only small drawbacks are manual focusing movies, and a sensor-imposed 5 minute limit (at full resolution). Oh, and mono sound, but that's not a biggie. I had a play with it in Yodobashi. It was quite fun.
So in a nutshell, if I get this camera I should be able to do videos similar to the one at the start of this post. Cool huh?
So where was I? In less than a week I am back in Akihabara. I arrived quite late and didn't manage my time so well. I bought a lens so whoever gets my D40x can use it, with a lens. I bought a cheap but good, 18-55mm for 7,480 yen.
My plan was to run to the best priced place to get a D90 (for 73,500 yen), but I was too late. Looks like if I want to get this I'll have to go ONCE more to Akky. Sigh.
It wasn't the only thing I got. Oh no.
I got a Powerbank battery pack (4400 Mah) that I can use on my iPod, iPhone, Nintendo DS, and even the old Windows phone too when they run out of juice.
Battery life ain't that great on 3G, so this'll be useful. I got it from here, but be aware, I got the last one left.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:44 pm 0 comments
Saturday, 20 December 2008
A Cow Says "Mo Mo"
I've been a bit lax lately writing posts so first, a quick recap for the highlights of my week:
On Monday I decided to go to Hachioji once more to check out the "Off" stores for some bargains. I noticed Astro Wars was still there and discounted to around 2,000 yen. Still didn't make me want it more. That thing is more than thirty years old!
My real reason for going there was to find some bathroom scales.
For two reasons - I keep getting asked if I am losing more weight more than too many times lately AND, there's a strict 20kg baggage restriction with Jetstar that I want to keep to if possible for my flight home.
I didn't find any there but when I got to Tachikawa, I still had enough time to walk to the Treasure Factory and found a Winnie the Pooh one for 800 yen and an electronic one for 2,000 yen. I held off thinking I should look around a bit before plonking down my yen.
Later on I thought it wasn't too bad, and checking Bic Camera, electronic ones go for between 4,000-5,000 yen for the cheapest. I didn't have enough time to go back so I thought if it was still there I'd go back the following week.
On Tuesday, station beers was put on hold for a night out at an izakaya with a bunch of people from the Yokohama school. The only negative thing is no matter what time you get there, the bill is split evenly. So, that was coughing up 4,000 yen. Ouch.
A particular highlight was the train home watching a guy, who not long before I got on had done a spectacular vomit all over the floor near the doors. It was a purplish colour with chunks and liquid streaming to quite a large area of the train. Impressive!
I had my SLR camera with me and I SO wanted to capture this moment. It was priceless. Too many people may have thought that a tad insensitive, so I didn't.
The rest of the week has been arts and crafts, doing Christmas lessons with a surprising amount of success. Lots of candy and chocolate. Bonus!
Tonight I have finalised all my plans for Christmas presents, so it's one less thing I have to worry about. Have you been good? Santa MAY come pay you a visit this year. Maybe.
I DID get an electronic scales that looks just like the one I passed up in Tachikawa at Eda's Treasure Factory for 1,000 yen!
Super fantabulous!
There was also a really old looking, "analog" bathroom scales for 300 yen. Although it worked fine, it looked like junk. This one was covered in styrofoam and plastic, so it looked pretty much as new. It still had a battery in it, so I could see that it worked. There was a lbs/kg switch that looked like it was missing, but considering it showed kg's, that's all I need.
I really like this shop. There was a whole lot of stuff I'd really like to buy, but my lack of impulse stopped that pretty quick.
In Shibuya tonight we were really hungry, so by chance we stumbled upon the interestingly named Mo Mo Paradise, a shabu shabu/sukiyaki chain.
We had to wait around an hour because the place was busy.
To kill some time we played "Nintendo" strength test on my new scales. I also took the opportunity for a few pictures around the waiting area.
After the disappointment of the local shabu-shabu in Yotsuya, I was quite pleased with this place.
It was 1890 yen each all-you-can-eat for 90 minutes. As soon as we ordered another plate, it was there in no time. Fantastic.
I have to say I liked the beef more than the pork. The pork was a little fatty, but the beef wasn't, and was sliced in really big pieces. We got stuffed with meat well before ninety minutes was up. It's not only in Shibuya, so I definitely recommend this place for a decent cheap feed of MEAT, and lots of it.
I'll be back.
Finally I just want to mention I got a merlion biscuit today.
As you can see it's a cross between a mermaid and a lion. It's a symbol of Singapore.
Personally I prefer a liger, the cross between a lion and a tiger and "bred for it's skills in magic" (see Napoleon Dynamite, just do it).
Over and Out.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Under the apartment there are some baby cats that the apartment owner has taken under his wing.
I like how the basket looked with the natural lamp light hanging over them. I couldn't resist to take their photo.
Kawaii, ne?
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 12:54 am 0 comments
Sunday, 14 December 2008
Party Time!
Like I promised here are a choice selection of the almost fifty photos I took last night at the Christmas party in Yokohama last night.
Instead of saying too much I think I'll just let the pictures tell most of the story.
The moral of this story is.. I like to surround myself with cute genki girls and weird J-boys.
You probably noticed some cream on my chin. I hammed it up in one of the other's photos by smearing my face, and no-one told me there was still some around my chin. Bastards!
With a great turn-out of between forty and fifty people I think it's safe to say the night was a complete success. Of course the only thing that could bring the night down would be the inevitable karaoke post-party. I was there for about five minutes.
I made a very quick decision to just leave while I was still good, and managed to not get the train straight back home but the next best thing, to Shinjuku and find my way home from there.
It's strange that all the schools have their Christmas party on the same night. I was debating which one to go to but after this night, I know I made the right decision. I was with the people I really care about, and that's all that matters.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:09 pm 0 comments
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Wait For It
Just a moment..
I want to thank all the people that listened to me, ever, and even the people that didn't like me for no reason other than that they decided that was their choice, before they even let me prove myself. Not that I ever had to justify myself to anyone.
Tonight I feel like I know who are the people I trust, and the ones that are truly my friends. I've always tried to be honest to myself, and expect others to do the same for me. I really enjoyed myself tonight.
I missed the last train, and walked home from Shinjuku. It gave me a lot of thinking time, about why I am here in Japan.
I NEEDED this. I'll go back soon, to remind me what was special back home, and I'll miss all the good things in Japan.
Two words.. Christmas Party! I'm too tired to post any pictures tonight. Stay tuned. Maybe tomorrow..
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:32 pm 0 comments
Thursday, 11 December 2008
Walking To Shibuya
As expected, this morning I had a killer hangover. Even around 3pm it was still bugging me.
Eventually I managed to leave the house and make my way towards Shibuya.. on foot!
Initially I was only thinking we'd walk around Yotsuya, so I could take some pretty pictures of the last yellowing leaves of early winter, soon to drop and leave the skeletal remains of the trees.
This is the path along the main road leading towards Yotsuya station.
I can't help to mock the politician on this poster that I always see on the wall near my street.
This is Yotsuya crossing looking towards the koban and Yotsuya metro station.
As it was getting darker, we kept walking alongside the Imperial Palace and Jingu Gaien noticing a lot of the fallen yellow leaves. So Pretty. It was hard to take decent non-blurry photos without the flash.
This is a random Christmas "illumination" photo in Aoyama's CI Plaza. It turned out better than I expected.
I'm told the sign next to the Coca-Cola billboard is an advertisement for a hangover medicine. Just what I needed today!
This is an interesting sculpture outside the Aoyama theatre.
This is the AO building in Aoyama. At the moment it's so new, the only part open is the Kinokuniya supermarket. It's great to see some unusual architecture in the typically dull Tokyo cityscape.
If you look carefully you can see Kiddyland on the left. One of my favourite toy shops, in Omotosando. Lots of cool stuff.
Looking for love? This may be the place, in a back street of Omotosando.
Yes, I'm immature when I read things into this.
Since we walked this far we kept on going to Shibuya, not that far away. When most people first come to Japan they read that OIOI store as "zero one zero one" or "oi oi". The latter sounds more Aussie to me. It's actually the Marui department store.
And then we went to Karaoke.. NOT! By this time we were quite hungry and decided on pizza at Shakeys. It's not the most quality food, and I kind of regret that feeling in my stomach afterwards, but for 1500 yen all you can eat, it's a good way to beat hunger in Shibuya.
It took around an hour to walk back home from Shibuya. My legs were so tired. It wasn't such a bad way to get over a hangover though.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:56 pm 0 comments
Wednesday, 10 December 2008
Eight Is Enough
I haven't played the catchers for a while.. until today.
She wanted the big "Daddy" moi to complete her chick family, so seeing that I couldn't find it in any other UFO catcher I bit the bullet and decided to try for the only one here in Yokohama.
From first appearances it looked like it had to be picked up and dropped into the chute, which I thought would be impossible. I asked the staff to give me a fighting chance, and he moved the holder that was cupping the plushie in the right direction.
Without much luck I changed some more money and asked again if he could move it chotto closer. He did and I got it on the next try. Only thing is I put in a 500 yen for three tries. He only let me use them on another machine which was a bit of a waste as there wasn't anything else I wanted to play for. All up it was 1000 or 1200 yen, I think.
So this will be the last of my UFO catching days.. maybe.
After work we had station beers outside the Diamond as per usual. LH came with us to watch those pretty ladies walk past. An African guy was hanging around for a while, blocking my view which I didn't like at all.
Both BBD and LH finished their drinks before I did and wanted another so unwisely I had another chu-hi as well. It was horrible getting the train home. I was dizzy and tired.
It felt like forever getting back. Those 8% chu-hi's are dangerous. Lolly water with a sting.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:54 pm 0 comments
Saturday, 6 December 2008
Skeletons In My Closet
It's getting cold.
Walking around Shibuya I felt the first snap of Tokyo's winter freeze. Maybe it's time to get those gloves out again.
This photo is from the start of Center Gai that runs through the heart of Shibuya. Tsutaya is Japanese for "rip-off" video rental store.
Today I realized I have a new addiction. That's right, another watch.. again.
On the left is the original skelton watch I bought back in July here.
On the right is my secondhand Swatch "Body & Soul" Irony watch.
This was the original watch that I REALLY wanted. The consensus is that the LK watch looks quite a bit cheaper, albeit much easier to work out the time.
So suffering to keep up with street cred (of which I mostly lack anyway), I didn't hesitate to get it. For 4,800 yen it was a bargain. I saved that 200 yen with a discount voucher they gave me straight away too! Lucky..
To give a little bit of perspective, brand new this watch is 17,850 yen from the Swatch shop. It only had a few very light scratches and came with the original box and warranty. Looking at the papers, it's not even a year old (5/2/2008!)
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:32 pm 3 comments
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
This Strange Behaviour
Looks like Tokyo Metro might read my blog after all.
It's great to see them "attempt" to thwart salaryman drunkenness on the train lines.
It's a lost cause of course.
If I was a typical Japanese salaryman ("work is everything" - short holidays and unpaid overtime? Yes please!), I'd want to be drunk most of the time too.
Please do It at home? I don't think so.
Posted by Jimmy In Japan at 11:19 pm 0 comments
Tuesday, 2 December 2008
Ginza Desu ka?
Another fun-packed day at Ginza.
Before school I wanted to print out one of the photos I took at Mt Takao the other day. The good ol' Bic Camera has a lot of photo machines that bang out quick pics for just 30 yen a photo.
On my D40x camera and on my laptop the photo looked perfect, but after I printed it out I was quite disappointed.
To my eyes it had far too saturated skin tones for my liking.
I didn't have much time to ask someone so I just rushed to get to work. Of course I allowed enough time for some Kimuraya anpan. Sampleman® has NOT been pleased with the stingy amount of samples they have been giving lately.
A few hours later I was lucky to have a vacant lesson to get some food. I was hungry!
Sad to say I had a double Quarter Pounder for 490 yen at evil Mcdonalds. I know. I shouldn't have. Still hungry I bought another anpan and scoffed that back at the office.
After work I pointlessly went back to Bic and asked about my over-saturated photo, to which they said nothing could be done.
Typical Japanese response.
I figured bringing my SLR along today I should take some pics. The photos on this post are from my camera.


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Would you spend $13 on a pair of rubber slippers that start to rot away the second you open the packaging? It's a feature most people would like to see on those aesthetically-challenged Crocs, but the O1Ms are from a Spanish company called One Moment and are made from a soft vegetable-based plastic that will completely biodegrade in just six months.
As a result they're probably better suited for use when tackling springtime gardening, summering at the cabin, or any activity where they're only needed for a limited time. In fact, they seem particularly well suited to gardening because when you're done you can cut them up and sprinkle the shredded remains around your plants as extra nourishment. The circle of life meets the circle of style.
[One Moment via PSFK]


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Questions and answers about Yemen-based al-Qaida
Based in the Yemeni tribal hinterlands but possessing global ambitions, al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has become the most active and lethal of the affiliates to emerge from the shadow of Osama bin Laden's old network. Now the deadly U.S. attack on its leadership has complicated its prospects.
Some questions and answers about the group, the attack that killed the radical U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki along with three other operatives, and the latest on al-Qaida's world franchises:
Q: What is al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula?
A: Formed in 2006 after two dozen al-Qaida members escaped from a Yemeni prison, the organization, then known as al-Qaida in Yemen, pulled off its biggest attack two years later. Two vehicle bombs exploded outside the U.S. Embassy compound in the capital, killing 19 people including six terrorists. This followed a period of small-arms attacks on tourists and mortar attacks against the U.S. and Italian Embassies, the presidential compound and Yemeni military fortifications.
In 2009, the organization became al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, uniting Yemeni and Saudi operatives under the same umbrella and signaling its intention to serve as a hub for regional attacks against local, U.S. and other Western interests in both countries. U.S. officials say this is when the group began pursuing a global strategy.
Q: Why was the U.S. so intent on killing al-Awlaki, just one of the group's leaders?
A: They considered him the group's prime figure both in directing and inspiring plots within the U.S. They also saw him as a potent recruiter of Americans willing to carry out terrorism inside the country.
U.S. officials have said they believe al-Awlaki inspired Army psychiatrist Maj. Nidal Hasan, who is charged in the attack that killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas. The two exchanged as many as 20 emails, U.S. officials say. In New York, the Pakistani-American who pleaded guilty to the attempted Times Square bombing last year said he was inspired by al-Awlaki after making contact over the Internet.
They also say he assumed direct planning duties in the foiled bombing aboard a Detroit-bound airliner and in a failed attempt to crash two U.S. cargo aircraft by detonating explosives inside two packages mailed to the U.S.
"His sole purpose was to attack the U.S.," said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Rogers said al-Awlaki was "trying to devise ways around U.S. security procedures at all levels."
The death of the charismatic cleric was not the only blow to the organization's ability to spread its message - and in English. Samir Khan, editor of the polished Jihadi online magazine and another U.S. citizen, also was killed in the assault.
Q: How did this attack differ from the raid that killed bin Laden inside his Pakistani compound?
A: Once again, the U.S. counterterrorism unit known as the Joint Special Operations Command crossed into a sovereign nation's territory to kill a wanted man. But there the similarities end.
U.S. forces flew into Pakistan and placed themselves on the ground without the foreknowledge of the Pakistani government. The drone attack on al-Awlaki's convoy unfolded with crucial assistance from Yemeni intelligence, which pinpointed and continued to monitor his location. U.S. fighter jets were also part of the mission, ready to strike quickly if the drones missed their mark, as they did the last time they targeted al-Awlaki, on May 5, just days after the bin Laden raid in Pakistan.
Why were the Yemenis so helpful? Yemeni authorities have come under increasing attack from al-Qaida in their midst and in turn have expanded their cooperation with U.S. counterterrorism operations.
The attack's command structure also was unusual, with the counterterrorism unit and the CIA working side by side, sharing intelligence and tracking and ultimately firing on the target. Both fly armed drones. The CIA directed the bin Laden raid.
Q: How much is the U.S. attack likely to hurt the capabilities of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula?
A: It's too soon to know. Some intelligence officials say it should immediately cripple the organization's ability to carry out attacks on the United States, but it won't stop the movement's internal fight against the Yemeni government. Bruce Riedel, a former CIA official, called it a serious setback for the organization but not a fatal blow. "In fact al-Qaida is getting stronger every day in Yemen as the country descends into civil war and breaks apart," he said.
At least for the short term, the attack is a striking propaganda defeat for the organization, and one that crimps its ability to communicate with those in the West and recruit them.
Al-Awlaki was a galvanizing figure who could motivate Westerners to take action on their own, said Christopher Boucek, a Yemen expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "I don't want to say he's irreplaceable, but I don't know who else could fill his shoes."
Q: What is the state of other terrorist organizations operating under the al-Qaida banner and devoted to attacking Americans and the West?
A: Yemen's al-Qaida branch may be the leading threat, but it's not the only one. The original group, now led by bin Laden successor Ayman al-Zawahiri, continues to plot and train would-be suicide attackers in Pakistan's tribal areas - though those efforts are hampered by a barrage of CIA drone strikes.
Other splinter groups such as Africa-based al-Qaida in the Islamic Magreb, Somalia-based al-Shabaab and Boko Haram pose a "significant threat" in the African continent, but also to the United States, according to Army Gen. Carter Ham, commander of U.S. Africa Command. "Those three organizations have very explicitly and publicly voiced an intent to target Westerners and the U.S. specifically," Ham said. "I have questions about their ability to do so; I have no question about their intent to do so, and that to me is very worrying."
An even bigger concern, he said, is that the three are looking for ways to work together more closely. He said this is most apparent in efforts by al-Qaida in the Islamic Magreb, which is focused mainly on North Africa, and Boko Haram, a radical Muslim sect that wants strict Shariah law in Nigeria.


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(120 units)
The B.S. in Kinesiology requires nine units of prerequisite courses and 51 units in the major, including nine units of foundation courses, 18 units of disciplinary core courses, a three-unit writing course and 21 units of concentration courses. All courses in the major, including prerequisites, must be completed with a "C" (2.0) or better, and must be taken on an Option 1 (letter grade) basis. Kinesiology courses with the "junior or senior standing" prerequisite require students to have completed a minimum of 55 units. Intercollegiate sport courses may be completed with the Credit/No Credit option.
* May only be used in one performance area.
Students in the Teacher Education concentration must substitute KNES 240 , KNES 241 , KNES 242 and KNES 243 for the Performance Courses requirements (see the Teacher Education concentration for details).
Provides knowledge and practical experience supporrting careers in exercise science and research. Prepares students for advanced study in exercise physiology, biomechanics and/or motor control and learning.


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About Us
With over 20 years experience, we work with leading suppliers offering the highest quality and value UK bathrooms products. We ensure all suppliers combine best manufacturing practices with the best value priced products.
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Working with quality suppliers with over 20 years experience in the industry.
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Quality bathroom products from Flush Bathrooms.
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You can email us at email@example.com, and we will have a specialist get back to you within 24 hours, without fail
First class delivery service from Flush Bathrooms.
With thousands of orders per week, we can offer the most efficient and reliable carriage service in collaboration with our experienced suppliers to deliver your bathrooms direct to your door.
We understand how frustrating it can be when orders are delayed when purchasing online, which is why we do all we can to ensure you receive your items when you expect them. We guarantee you will not be disappointed.
For UK Bathrooms, choose Flush, you will not be disappointed.


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Tagged: Night
Spotting Constellations
The sidereal sky can confuse those who attempt to connect the dots when visualizing the constellations as vivid imagery and art. One website Pixhaven.net has posted some beautiful night skies with both the constellations and the art associated with it.
It's difficult to spot the constellations here, so the image below will connect the dots.
To see them together, this image overlays the constellations on top of the illustrations. More constellations to come!


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Immaculate Contraception
An 'accommodation' that makes the birth-control mandate worse.
Here's a conundrum: The White House wants to impose its birth-control ideology on all Americans, including those for whom sponsoring or subsidizing such services violates their moral conscience. The White House also wants to avoid a political backlash from this blow to religious freedom. These goals are irreconcilable.
So you almost have to admire the absurdity of the new plan President Obama floated yesterday: The government will now write a rule that says the best things in life are "free," including contraception. Thus a political mandate will be compounded by an uneconomic one—in other words, behold the soul of ObamaCare.
Under the original Health and Human Services regulation, all religious institutions except for houses of worship would be required to cover birth control, including hospitals, schools and charities. Under the new rule, which the White House stresses is "an accommodation" and not a compromise, nonprofit religious organizations won't have to directly cover birth control and can opt out. But the insurers they hire to cover their employees can't opt out. If that sounds like a distinction without a difference, odds are you're a rational person.
Say Notre Dame decides that its health plan won't cover birth control on moral grounds. A faculty member wants such coverage, so Notre Dame's insurer will then be required to offer the benefit as an add-on rider anyway, at no out-of-pocket cost to her, or to any other worker or in higher premiums for the larger group.
But wait. Supposedly the original rule was necessary to ensure "access" to contraceptives, which can cost up to $600 a year as Democratic Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Barbara Boxer and Patty Murray wrote in these pages this week. The true number is far less, but where does that $600 or whatever come from, if not from Notre Dame and not the professor?
Insurance companies won't be making donations. Drug makers will still charge for the pill. Doctors will still bill for reproductive treatment. The reality, as with all mandated benefits, is that these costs will be borne eventually via higher premiums. The balloon may be squeezed differently over time, and insurers may amortize the cost differently over time, but eventually prices will find an equilibrium. Notre Dame will still pay for birth control, even if it is nominally carried by a third-party corporation.
This cut-out may appease a few of the Administration's critics, especially on the Catholic left—but only if they want to be deceived again, having lobbied for the Affordable Care Act that created the problem in the first place. The faithful for whom birth control is a matter of religious conviction haven't been accommodated at all. They'll merely have to keep two sets of accounting books.
The real audience for this non-compromise are the many voters shaken that the White House would so willfully erode the American traditions of religious liberty and pluralism, most of whom don't adhere to anti-contraceptive teachings. On a conference call with reporters yesterday, a senior Administration official not known for his policy chops claimed that the new plan was "our intention all along" and that the furor is nothing more than partisan opportunism. Hmmm.
We couldn't recall any spirit of conciliation when the birth-control mandate was finalized in January, so we went back and checked the transcript of that call with senior Administration officials. Sure enough, back then they said that the rule "reflects careful consideration of the rights of religious organizations" and that a one-year grace period "really just gives those organizations some additional time to sort out how they will be adjusting their plans."
A journalist asked, "Just to be clear, so it's giving them a year to comply rather than giving them a year to in any way change how they feel or the Administration to change how it feels." Another senior official: "That is correct. It gives them a year to comply."
Yesterday's new adventure in damage control and bureaucratic improvisation makes the compliance problem much worse. There is simply no precedent for the government ordering private companies to offer a product for free, even if they recoup the costs indirectly. Why not do that with all health benefits and "bend the cost curve" to zero? The shape of the final rule when the details land in the Federal Register is anyone's guess, including the HHS gnomes who are throwing it together on the fly to meet a political deadline.
One major problem will be how the rule applies to large organizations that self-insure. Arrangements in which an employer pays for care directly and uses insurers to manage benefits and process claims (not to take on insurance risk) account for the majority of the private market. In these cases there isn't even a free lunch to pretend exists.
As reporting by Bloomberg and ABC this week has made clear, the contraception mandate was fiercely opposed within the Administration, including by Vice President Joe Biden. The larger tragedy is that none of them objected to government health care, which will always take choices away from individuals and arrogate them to an infallible higher power in Washington. Who was it again who claimed that if you like your health plan, you can keep your health plan?
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The Department of Licensing (DOL) is starting to use a facial recognition matching system as part of our ongoing efforts to prevent individuals from obtaining multiple driver licenses or ID cards or attempting to obtain a license or ID in the name of another Washington resident. DOL is committed to doing everything we can to protect the identities of Washington residents.
DOL has used facial recognition as part of the Enhanced Driver License program since 2008 and in our regular driver license and ID card processes during the pilot program from November 2009 through June 2011.
How does facial recognition system work?
Using your regular driver license or ID card photo, the system uses sophisticated mathematics to create a digital template of facial features that aren't easy to alter, such as eye sockets, cheekbones and sides of the mouth.
Before a new license is issued, the system compares the template it creates to with all of the templates already in our database to determine if someone is attempting to apply for a license using a name other than their own. When potential conflicts are detected, the system flags them for review by specially trained DOL staff.
DOL's facial recognition system is designed to be an accurate, non-obtrusive fraud detection tool. When staff investigators confirm an individual may have more than one identity in our system, DOL offers the individual an opportunity to explain. A hearing is offered before any administrative action to suspend or cancel a license or ID card is taken.
Facial recognition templates are not shared
We do not share the use of the system with law enforcement or the other agencies without a court order and do not release facial recognition system results. However, when our efforts find probable fraud or identity theft we inform appropriate partner agencies who can investigate for identity-based crime or entitlement fraud.


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Projecting Future Climate: Cal-Adapt
Due to the changes California faces, it is critical for practitioners to have access to down-scaled climate projections and information.
To support this need, Cal-Adapt has been designed to provide access to the wealth of data and information that has been, and continues to be, produced by State of California's scientific and research community. The data available on Cal-Adapt offer a view of how climate change might affect California at the local level. Here you can work with visualization tools, access data, and participate in community sharing to contribute your own knowledge.
California's Climate Change Research
The State of California is committed to investing in scientific research on the impacts climate change will have across the state, as well as adaptation responses and strategies. For example, since 2006 the State has funded four assessments of California's changing climate and impacts, and each Assessment has shifted its focus in order to develop scientific understanding of climate impacts and to address evolving needs for California.
The Fourth Climate Change Assessment advances actionable science to serve the growing needs of state and local decision-makers from a variety of sectors. The research and tools developed as part of the Fourth Assessment will be added to the Adaptation Clearinghouse in fall 2018, but all final products are available at ClimateAssessment.ca.gov.
If you are interested in learning more about climate change in California, please visit these state websites for further information:
Navigating Tools, Datasets, & Research in the Adaptation Clearinghouse
The table below helps users find climate change tools and other data visualization resources to assist in planning and analysis. You can also download the table as an excel file.
Below the table, you have access to all of the tools, datasets, and research included in the Clearinghouse.
|Climate Impacts
|Geographic Extent
|Observed data (Y/N)
|Projections (Y/N)
|Non-Technical User (Y/N)
|Technical Summary
|Data Resolution
|Alignment with CA 4th Climate Assessment
|Data Downloadable?
|State's primary data access and visualization tool to view and plan for the impacts of climate change. Designed to provide access to the wealth of data and information that has been, and continues to be, produced by State of California's scientific and research community. The data available on this site offer a view of how climate change might affect California at the local level.
|Climate Projections
|California Energy Commission (CEC)
|Visualizations; Literature; User Applications (API)
|California Climate Change Assessment. Accessible data includes annual averages, extreme heat, sea level rise, snowpack, wildfire, cooling degree days and heating degree days, LOCA downscaled projections, and more.
|6x6 km
|Downscaled CMIP3 and CMIP5 Climate and Hydrology Projections
|The archive is meant to provide access to climate and hydrologic projections at spatial and temporal scales relevant to some of the watershed and basin-scale decisions facing water and natural resource managers and planners dealing with climate change. The downscaled models are the same as used in Cal-Adapt. This data aims to permit several types of analyses, including: Assessment of potential climate change impacts on natural and social systems (e.g., watershed hydrology, ecosystems, water and energy demands); Assessment of local to regional climate projection uncertainty; Risk-based exploration of planning and policy responses framed by potential climate changes exemplified by these projections.
|Climate Projections
|Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
|Data only
|This archive contains fine spatial resolution translations of climate projections over the contiguous United States developed using three downscaling techniques, CMIP3 hydrologic projections over the western U.S., and CMIP5 hydrology projections over the contiguous U.S. corresponding to monthly BCSD climate projections. Archive content is based on global climate projections from the World Climate Research Programme's Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 multi-model dataset referenced in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report, and the phase 5 multi-model dataset that is informing the IPCC Fifth Assessment.
|6x6 km
|Southwest Climate and Environmental Information Collaborative - SCENIC
|Access point of weather and climate information for the full extent or any subset of the Southwest US. Users can download various climate datasets and utilize custom built decision support tools to analyze and visualize the data. The purpose of SCENIC is to support the research and decision making efforts of the SW-CSC, the Landscape Conservation Cooperatives (LCC), and other stakeholders.
|Temperature; Drought; Extreme heat; Snowpack
|Climate Projections
|Southwest Climate Science Center
|California; Southwest
|Visualizations; Graphs
|SCENIC delivers daily data from weather stations across the U.S. from 1890- present. It also provides access to statistically downscaled climate projections (LOCA) developed at SCRIPPS and dynamically downscaled data and model outputs from NARCCAP. SCENIC also provides access to historic gridded datasets like daily, monthly, and annual data at 4 km resolution from PRISM. The complete MODIS and LANDSAT archives can be access through SCENIC via Google's cloud computing platform Earth Engine.
|Point (stations); 4x4 km; 6x6 km
|Climate Registry for the Assessment of Vulnerability - CRAVe
|CRAVe is a searchable database of natural and human resource climate change vulnerability assessments developed for the USGS. The assessments housed in the Registry include studies pertaining to species and ecosystems, built environments and infrastructure, cultural resources, and socioeconomic systems. Users must create an account and log in, and can add records.
|Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE)
|Vulnerability Assessments
|Users of the Registry enter information on a suite of basic information about a vulnerability assessment, including project location and scale, assessment target or endpoint, contact information, managing agency and partner agencies, vulnerability assessment components (exposure, sensitivity, adaptive capacity), type of climate, sea-level, or hydrological change projections (hazards), methods for determining impact of hazards, and the purpose of the VA.
|California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool: CalEnviroScreen
|CalEnviroScreen is a screening tool that evaluates the burden of pollution from multiple sources in communities while accounting for potential vulnerability to the adverse effects of pollution. CalEnviroScreen ranks census tracts in California based on potential exposures to pollutants, adverse environmental conditions, socioeconomic factors, and prevalence of certain health conditions. Data used in the CalEnviroScreen model come from national and state sources, and the tool is often used by the State to prioritize funding opportunties.
|Equity and Environmental Justice; Public Health
|California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA)
|Population, pollution burden, and other public health indicators per census tracts in the state. 2010 Census data
|Census tract
|Regional Opportunities Index (ROI)
|The Regional Opportunity Index (ROI) is an index of community and regional opportunity for understanding social and economic opportunity in California's communities. The goal of the ROI is to help target resources and policies toward people and places with the greatest need, to foster thriving communities of opportunity for all Californians. The ROI provide banks, policy makers, advocates and other key leaders with a powerful tool to identify communities with high levels of vulnerability and communities with characteristics that suggest social and economic opportunity. The ROI assesses key measures of community well-being, and how these patterns vary across different places.
|Equity and Environmental Justice
|University of California Davis: Center for Regional Change
|Map displays an index of opportunity for people, opportunity by location, and population density. The tool uses 2014 Census data.
|Census tract; people/sq. mi. in tract
|California Healthy Places Index (HPI)
|Interactive online data and GIS mapping tool that allows users to easily visualize the social and economic conditions that shape health in each neighborhood in California. HPI also moves data into action by providing policy briefs outlining best practices to address risks associated with climate indicators.
|Public Health; Equity and Environmental Justice
|Public Health Alliance of Southern California
|Visualizations; Resources
|HPI is validated with life expectancy and provides census tract rankings across the state. Data can also be visualized by county, districts, cities, etc. As of 2017, the Healthy Places Index platform includes climate change indicators. This tool provides graphic overlays of climate risks, vulnerabilities, and indicators of adaptive capacity, along with the healthy places index score, and other key decision support layers.
|Urban Heat Island Index for California
|Quantifies the extent and severity of urban heat islands for individual cities, including Urban Heat Island Interactive Maps, showing the urban heat island effect for each census tract in and around most urban areas throughout the state. This can also help identify and prioritize areas across the state for adaptation efforts such as urban greening and cool roofs and pavements. Users can either download static map files, or install Google Earth and navigate the index directly.
|Temperature; Extreme Heat
|Public Health; Equity and Environmental Justice; Land Use and Community Development
|California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA)
|Visualizations; Resources
|Index is calculated as a temperature differential over time between an urban census tract and nearby upwind rural reference points at a height of two meters above ground level, where people experience heat. The index is reported in degree-hours per day on a Celsius scale – a measure of heat intensity over time. An increase of one degree over an eight hour period would equal eight degree-hours, as would an increase of two degrees over a four-hour period.
|Census tract
|Template for Assessing Climate Change Impacts and Management Options (TACCIMO)
|Web-based tool that provides professional land managers and planners the most current climate change science available. It delivers access to the most current peer-reviewed publication findings describing effects and management options, and interactive maps of climate projections and models, that provide insight into climate influences on natural resources.
|Forestry; Agriculture
|U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
|California; National
|Literature; Resources
|The main TACCIMO inputs are findings (text quotations and figures) from peer-reviewed scientific literature that outline climate change effects and management options.
|Fire Probability for Carbon Accounting
|Web Map application intended to aid in the summarization of fire probability data for specific project sites. The tool also helps to quantify greenhouse gas benefits of fuel reduction activities funded under 2016-17 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).
|Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP)
|Data represent projected probability of fire occurrence (%) for California, 2026-2050. GFDL and PCM climate models. Emission Scenario: A2
|USGS Hydrologic Units: HUC12 Watershed
|National Climate Change Viewer (NCCV)
|The NCCV allows the user to visualize projected changes in climate (maximum and minimum air temperature and precipitation) and the water balance (snow water equivalent, runoff, soil water storage and evaporative deficit) for any state, county, and USGS Hydrologic Unit (HUC).
|Temperature; Drought; Extreme heat; Snowpack
|Water; Agriculture
|U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
|California; National
|Visualizations; Graphs
|Downscale models from on-going AR5 IPCC.
|800x800 m ; USGS Hydrologic Units (HUC)
|Regional Climate Change Viewer (counties)
|The simulations are intended to provide high-resolution down-scaled weather and climate data for the past, present, and future for use in climate-related research. This tool presents information by county.
|Temperature; Extreme Heat; Snowpack; Drought
|Water; Agriculture
|U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
|California; National
|Visualizations; Graphs
|Dynamically downscaled global climate simulations using a regional climate model, RegCM3. Includes temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, snow, growing degree days, and evapotranspiration projections between two climatological periods.
|15x15 km
|Regional Climate Change Viewer (hydrological)
|The simulations are organized by hydrologic unit, and are intended to provide high-resolution weather and climate data for the past, present, and future for use in climate-related research. This tool presents information by USGS Hydrologic Units (HUC).
|Temperature; Extreme Heat; Snowpack; Drought
|Water; Agriculture
|U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
|California; National
|Visualizations; Graphs
|Dynamically downscaled global climate simulations using a regional climate model, RegCM3. Includes temperature, precipitation, soil moisture, snow, growing degree days, and evapotranspiration projections between two climatological periods.
|15x15 km
|Climate Mapper (Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs, MACA)
|This mapping tool provides a series of maps for relevant climate and hydrology information from past conditions and for projected future conditions across the United States to assist with decisions related to agriculture, drought, and fire conditions.
|Temperature; Drought; Extreme heat; Snowpack; Wildfire
|Agriculture; Water; Forestry
|Northwest Knowledge Network
|California; National
|Visualizations; Graphs
|The Multivariate Adaptive Constructed Analogs (MACA) method is a statistical downscaling method which utilizes a training dataset (i.e. a meteorological observation dataset) to remove historical biases and match spatial patterns in climate model output. Downscales the model output from 20 global climate models of the Coupled Model Inter-Comparison Project 5 (CMIP5) for the historical GCM forcings (1950-2005) and the future Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) RCP 4.5 and RCP8.5 scenarios (2006-2100).
|4x4 km; 6x6 km
|Sources Linked
|Threat Assessments on California Rangelands
|Developed six scenarios organized around the management question: "How can we maintain viable ranchland and their ecosystem services in light of future integrated threats?" The scenarios represent alternative futures of climate/land use/hydrological change for the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition focus area. These scenarios were then used to quantify and map three main rangeland ecosystem services—wildlife habitat, water supply, and carbon sequestration. This visualization tool allows the user to view changes in these ecosystem services across scenarios and years.
|Drought; Temperature; Snowpack
|Agriculture; Biodiversity & Habitat
|California Landscape Conservation Cooperative (CA LCC)
|Select Area: Central Valley, surrounding foothills, and interior Coast Range
|Downscaled land-use land-cover change scenarios and downscaled global climate models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on Emission Scenarios (SRES) A2, A1B, and B1. Probabilistic growth model, FORE-SCE, (FORecasting SCEnarios of future land cover) to model the distribution of each land cover type across a landscape. Ran the FORE-SCE model for two EPA Level III ecoregions, Central Valley & Chaparral & Oak Woodland. Includes change in the percentage of watershed area with critical habitat relative to 2010; Percent change in grassland soil carbon sequestration potential; Percent change in climatic water deficit relative to the 1981-2010 climate period; Ratio of recharge to runoff for three 30-year climate periods; Water-Wildlife Hotspots: areas where changes in water availability and loss of critical habitat coincide; Average percent change in multiple ecosystem services from 2010 to 2040.
|250x250 m
|California Climate and Hydrology Change Graphs
|This graphing tool presents historical and projected climate and hydrology data values from the California Basin Characterization Model dataset plotted over time for 156 hydrologic basins that comprise hydrologic California. Information includes recharge, runoff, evapotranspiration, climatic water deficit, precipition, temperature, and soil storage.
|Temperature; Drought; Extreme heat; Sea level rise
|Water; Agriculture
|California Landscape Conservation Cooperative
|Values for a hydrologic basin and the chosen data variable are plotted on the same graph. The four future climate scenarios were selected to demonstrate a range of precipitation and temperatures projected by the 18 scenarios available from the BCM; they are: MIROC-esm RCP 8.5 (warmest, driest), CRNM RCP 8.5 (wettest and warm), CCSM4 RCP 8.5 (mid-range, closest to ensemble mean), and GFDL A2 (a moderately warmer, drier future).
|USGS Hydrologic Units: HUC-8 basins
|Modeling Bird Distribution Responses to Climate Change
|Provides probabilities of occurrence of California Birds Species of Special Concern modeled using present day vegetation and climate variables and for two climate change futures.
|Temperature; Drought; Extreme Heat
|Biodiversity & Habitat
|Point Blue Conservation Science
|Produces maps of bird species distributions, vegetation, or climate variables. Two climate models - GFDL CM2.1 and NCAR CCSM3.0. IPCC Scenario A2.
|30x30 km
|Digital Coast Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Impacts Viewer
|The purpose of this map viewer is to provide federal, state, and local coastal resource managers and planners with a preliminary look at sea level rise and coastal flooding impacts. More information on this tool can be found on Sea the Future (formerly known as Lifting the Fog).
|Sea level rise; Extreme storms; Flooding
|Oceans & Coasts
|U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
|California; National
|Includes data on sea level rise, local scenarios, mapping confidence, marsh migration, vulnerability maps, and flood frequency. Rounding to the nearest one foot mapping increment to view potential impacts is appropriate based on the accuracy of the elevation and tidal surface data used as mapping inputs.
|1 degree grid for sea level projections; Multiple for other data
|Surging Seas
|Sea level rise analysis, including the Risk Zone Map and other visualization tools and information. The Rizk Zone Map shows areas vulnerable to near-term flooding from different combinations of sea level rise, storm surge, tides, and tsunamis, or to permanent submersion by long-term sea level rise. More information on this tool can be found on Sea the Future (formerly known as Lifting the Fog).
|Sea level rise; Extreme storms; Flooding
|Oceans & Coasts
|Climate Central
|Visualizations; Resources
|Search or navigate interactive tools see maps of areas below different amounts of sea level rise and flooding, down to neighborhood scale, matched with area timelines of risk. The tool also provides statistics of population, homes and land affected by city, county and state, plus links to factsheets, data downloads, action plans, embeddable widgets, etc. IPCC Global Projections. Emission Scenario: RCP 8.5, RCP 4.5, and RCP 2.6.
|Adapting to Rising Tides
|Identifies how current and future flooding will affect communities, infrastructure, ecosystems and economy in the San Francisco Bay Area. The ART Program is integrating adaptation into local and regional planning and decision-making by leading collaborative adaptation planning projects, building regional capacity for adaptation, and providing a portfolio of resources, including how-to guides, findings by sector and issue, and maps and data products.
|Sea level rise; Extreme storms; Flooding
|Oceans & Coasts; Land Use and Community Development; Transportation
|San Francisco Bay Conservation Development Commission (BCDC)
|San Francisco Bay Area
|Guidance; Visualizations; Resources
|Integrated regional shoreline mapping and analysis, using LiDAR data sets, FEMA Coastal Study and Tidal Datums Study, and regional shoreline delineation developed by San Francisco Estuary Institute.
|Coastal Resilience California
|Flexible online ESRI-based mapping tool with many data layers intended for use in coastal community planning, allowing for consideration of approaches to address sea level rise adaptation for habitats and human infrastructure. Visualizes and provides analysis on sea level rise, economics of nature-based adaptation, future habitat, community and regional planning for the California coast.
|Sea level rise; Extreme storms; Flooding
|Oceans & Coasts; Land Use and Community Development
|The Nature Conservancy
|Select Counties: Los Angeles County; Santa Barbara County; Ventura County; Monterey County
|Visualizations; Resources
|Displays sea level rise visualizations for the coast line, as well as economic evaluations of nature-based adaptation strategies in Ventura or Monterey County, and future habitat options in Ventura County. Allows user to create custom maps and generate a URL to use for sharing the map and data or embed it in another website.
|Future San Francisco Bay Tidal Marshes: a Climate-Smart Planning Tool
|The models generating these maps are the first to take into account the ability of marshes to accrete, or keep up with, rising sea levels, in the San Francisco Bay Estuary. The maps cover the entire Estuary, allowing for analyses at multiple spatial scales. This tool displays maps created at a high spatial resolution using the best available elevation data. The tool is the first to provide spatially explicit projections of marsh elevation and bird distributions throughout the Estuary. The Future Marshes Tool will help you: View and query maps to understand how sea level rise may change the extent of tidal marsh habitat and bird species distribution over the next 100 years; Make informed decisions about adaptation planning, restoration potential, and land acquisition given various sea-level rise and sedimentation scenarios; Identify areas both vulnerable and resilient to future sea-level rise.
|Sea level rise; Extreme storms; Flooding
|Oceans & Coasts; Biodiversity & Habitat
|Point Blue Conservation Science
|San Francisco Bay Area
|Marsh accretion was modeled by ESA PWA using the Marsh-98 model (Orr et al. 2003). Model outputs were linearly interpolated in 10-cm increments for starting elevations ranging from -3.7 to 1.7 m (relative to mean higher high water, or MHHW), and applied to a composite 5-m elevation grid for SF Bay. Results for each possible combination of projected sea level rise, sediment and organic material availability, and target year were combined to produce the scenario layers. Maps of the distribution of tidal marsh bird species were modeled using boosted regression trees (Elith et al. 2008)and described by Veloz et al. (2011). This method is able to fit non-linear functions between environmental variables and the presence/absence of a species. Map values represent the predicted density (birds per hectare) of a species.
|The Coastal Storm Modeling System (CoSMoS) is a dynamic modeling approach developed by the United States Geological Survey that allows more detailed predictions of coastal flooding due to both future sea level rise and storms integrated with long-term coastal evolution. The Our Coast, Our Future (OCOF) project uses CoSMoS to create a collaborative, user-driven interface providing coastal California resource managers and land use planners locally relevant, online maps and tools to help understand, visualize, and anticipate vulnerabilities to sea level rise and storms.
|Sea level rise; Extreme storms; Flooding
|Oceans & Coasts
|U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
|Sections of California Coast
|CoSMoS models are scaled down to local flood projections for use in community-level coastal planning and decision-making. All modeling results are available as GIS shapefiles, with accompanying metadata, at USGS ScienceBase-Catalog or through the Our Coast, Our Future (OCOF) flood mapper.
|2-meter Digital Elevation Model (DEM)
|General Plan Guidelines Online Mapping Tool
|The General Plan Mapping Tool (GPMT) is a useful tool to help communities identify existing resources, including natural resources, roads, buildings, and demographics, and develop open space inventories accordingly. The tool pulls data from multiple state and federal sources into one comprehensive site, and allows supplemental data layers from local jurisdictions. The tool allows mapping of known resources, assets, and needs of the community. The GMPT can be used in conjunction with Cal-Adapt to further support local jurisdictions' climate change analysis.
|Temperature; Drought; Extreme heat; Sea level rise; Snowpack; Wildfire; Flooding
|Land Use And Community Development
|California Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR)
|Datasets include state and federal publically-available climate and land-use data.


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Herb Sutter is a bestselling author and consultant on software development topics, and a software architect at Microsoft. He can be contacted at www.gotw.ca.
Let's say you need to migrate existing code to take advantage of concurrent execution or scale on parallel hardware. In that case, you'll probably find yourself in one of these two common situations, which are actually more similar than different:
- Migrating an application: You're an application developer, and you want to migrate your existing synchronous application to be able to benefit from concurrency.
- Migrating a library or framework: You're a developer on a team that produces a library or framework used by other teams or external customers, and you want to let the library take advantage of concurrency on behalf of the application without requiring application code rewrites.
You have a mountain of opportunities and obstacles before you. Where do you start?
This column is about the most basic strategy to have in our toolchest. It may seem so simple that it goes without saying, but there are a few important details to keep in mind to do it correctly.
Adding Concurrency: Target It, Localize It, Hide It
Perhaps the most effective way to deliver concurrency is to hide it inside "synchronous" APIs. The key is to inject concurrency in a targeted, localized way inside key functions or methods, and let the application code that calls those methods stay happily sequential and blissfully unaware of the concurrency. We want keep from exposing concurrency throughout the entire application, because the existing code isn't designed with concurrency and nondeterminism in mind. The less code has to be upgraded to know about concurrency, the better.
First, identify the places where we can benefit from concurrency. Here are two major kinds of situations to look for:
- High-latency operations that can benefit from concurrent waiting. Here we want to look for places where our lower-level or library code is doing synchronous work when the caller requests it. If that work could be launched actively sooner (even if sometimes speculatively), then the waiting can overlap with the caller's execution, so that when the caller finally does ask for the result some or all of the work or waiting is already complete.
- Compute-intensive operations that can benefit from parallel execution. Here, we want to look for "hot spot" functions or methods where your application or library code is spending significant parts of computational effort. Focus on the ones that are amenable to parallelization because we can readily break the work into chunks that can be performed in parallel. Typically, we're looking for natural parallelism that we can exploit in the algorithm (e.g., recursive divide-and-conquer where nonoverlapping subranges can be processed in parallel) or in the data structures (e.g., nonoverlapping subtrees or subgraphs or hash table buckets can be processed in parallel). These are our initial targets.
Of course, there's overlap between these two categories, as we'll see in the following examples. Second, once we've found that low-hanging fruit, add concurrency in those functions internally. Note that word "internally" is essential -- we don't want to expose the concurrency in the API we present to the caller. Ideally, all concurrency is bounded within the scope of the function call, so that the caller calls our function and we launch the concurrency and join with it before returning, and the function just appears to execute faster. Next best, concurrency is not bounded but is managed automatically, so that the caller calls our function and we launch the concurrency and return with something still running under the covers, and the caller doesn't need to know because in some subsequent call into our code (or upon a timeout, or some other automated way) we join with the concurrent work.
With the concurrency thus compartmentalized, the calling code doesn't have to know about the parallel work. As far as the caller is concerned, our library method just happens to execute better or faster than before.


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Dodgers launching Magic Johnson bobblehead hunt
DENVER -- The Dodgers on Thursday will launch a #MeetMagic Bobblehead Hunt to give fans the opportunity to attend the sold-out Magic Johnson Bobblehead Night, presented by Keck Medical Center of USC, on Thursday, Sept. 12 against the Giants.
The hunt runs through Sept. 11 and will take place at several iconic Los Angeles area locations. The Dodgers' official Twitter account, @Dodgers, will tweet a clue at 2 p.m. PT each day of the contest of the location of an autographed Magic Johnson bobblehead. The first follower of @Dodgers to arrive at the designated location and correctly answer a trivia question will win a "Magic Ticket" good for two suite tickets for the Sept. 12 game. Winners will get the opportunity to meet Johnson.
"I really enjoy interacting with Dodger fans on my own Twitter handle, and am so excited about this Dodger social media contest that allows fans a chance to get to a sold-out game, especially on my bobblehead night," said Johnson, one of the club's owners. "I look forward to meeting the winners of the 'Meet Magic' scavenger hunt and wish everyone participating in this contest the best of luck."
Complete details can be found by visiting www.dodgers.com/meetmagic and fans can follow the Dodgers on Twitter by visiting www.twitter.com/dodgers.